[Bels]

i signed under "we (agency) don't do refunds". am i done?
is there any customer service that i could make complain to? i know that sometimes if you complain about bad service to manager it works...

(i paid money to the bureau that promised to contact me with the landlords )

[Guest]

You need to speak to your local Citizens Advice Service
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm#searchbox

Its free to use and they are really good.

Best of luck

G

[miss kim]

once i paid £120 deposit and my landlord
didnt give it back to me
we was allways busy, didnt pick up his phone and when we appointed the place to meet he didnt turn up.

i had to go to policew
but i didnt coz we didnt sign any papers ,bastard!!
need to be careful

[isris]

I would advice to talk to police anyway even you did not sign any contract as the contract might be verbal maybe you have some witness. Or if you want to be cruel ..juts call the city council and say that the condiction of the houses of that particula landlord dont follow the prescribed standards (he might doesnt have a fireallarms in evry room ... which is required ) and they will give him some penalty ...at least little satisfaction for his awful behaviour

The best is to have evrything written and sighned for next time!

[Guest]

The police only deal with criminal matters so they would be the wrong agency to contact in this case.

Contract law would be a civil matter and so you need to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or your local Law Centre.

You can find details from UK directory enquiries or on the web. Someone earlier posted the link for the CAB.

[Guest]

in this case i see it as unjustitied enrichment and that might go to police

[Mortman]

My advice is to send the boys round. How would he feel if his place kept getting damaged in the middle of the night and was costing him money. My guess he will pay back very quickly. If they f--k you over then f--k them over

[Free]

If you have been cheated look for an authority which deals with such matters. They are very good (usually) at sorting things out. I had a problem wiht my gas bill, the company was rude and uncooperative, I called Energywatch and they dealt with it in record time. You should have seen the gas company jump!
If you cannot get redress for ny reason - let it go. I know its tough, we've all been there where we want to rip someones brains out. Dont.
Move on. Paying back criminal or unfair acts with the same sort of things is just wrong in my opinion.
Some may not believe this, but someday that landlord or whoever it is who cheated you will get his comeuppance. You might not see it or hear of it but it will happen. It comes down to taking responsibilty for our actions, good or bad. We have to face their consequences one day.

Sure you're only one person, so am I. But if we try in our small way to act with integrity it has a knock on effect down the line.

Just my opinion. Peace.

[Foxxie]

Unless you damaged the proerty in some way (minus 'fair wear-and-tear') the landlord has no right to keep the deposit, even if you leave early. You'll probably have to take them to court to get it back as some can be bastards to get a refund from.

Not all agencies are like this; the one I'm with are fantastic, always answer questions, maintain the property very well and give back deposits. Renting from an agency is fine, just check the contract first. Even if the contract says they can withold the deposit for any reason other than 'dilapidations' this isn't true, but you'll have to check that as I'm not a lawyer!

[Guest]

Go to your local Citizens Advice Centre or Law Centre .. I see two posters have already recommended this course of action above.

Sadly, the rest are just talking rubbish!

Don't waste any further time with this forum.

[Buzz Lightyear]

Hi Bels,

If I am right, and I think I am, it is illegal in the UK to charge prospective tennants a finders fee in the first place. It is legal to charge an admin fee once the property has been found and you have agreed and signed to take it on.

My suggestion would be for you to contact the local council of the area where the agency is. They normally have a housing officer who deals with these sorts of problems. it is likely that they will prosecute them in the magistrates court. Remember that you are only one person and how many other people have the same problem.

You should not let them get away with it.
it does not matter that you signed a contract because the contract is invalid anyway because a contract cannot be binding if it is illegal in the first place. The judge would throw it in the bin!.

Could luck

t8110251@yahoo.co.uk

[honestguy]